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Audience in LSO St Luke's

Your Reviews: Autumn/Winter 2010

Tue 21 Dec 2010 - Mullova/Gardiner

Larry Gold A very enjoyable concert.

Martin Bligh The performance of the Mendelssohn was wonderful. It would be interesting to hear from individual string players how playing standing up made a difference for them. Gardiner is a great Schumann conductor .

Michael Jacob For the first time in a concert-going life spanning 40 years, I experienced last night a symphony performed with violins and violas standing. It was an excellent performance.

Wed 15 Dec 2010 - Midori/Pappano

Tim Moorey The concert was superb with Pappano, clearly a carefully prepared conductor for every detail, yet maintaining an overall direction, getting the very best out of the LSO. Roman Simovic's important solo part was magical and awe-inspiring and I had the irreverent thought that maybe we should have had him doing the Bruch.

David & Linda White This was one of the best programs we have attended at the Barbican, I enjoyed all three pieces. Beautifully orchestrated and performed. Excellent.

Thu 9 Dec 2010 - Trpceski/Pappano

Therese Horsfield Thank you. It was a wonderful concert, the Rachmaninov and Arvo Part being the high points for us. Well done to all the players!

Owzat With an overture, a concerto, a fascinating modern work probably new to most and a fine concluding piece, this made for a great concert. Add one of the best current pianists, a really original encore involving Tim Hugh, Roman Simovic and Simon Trpceski, La Mer taken faster and more excitingly than usual and the LSO on top form and it made the best concert of the year for this regular audience member.

Sun 5 Dec 2010 - Connolly/Alsop

Justin Carey I just wanted to let you know that i had a truly unprecedented experience on Sunday night. A passage of second movement of the 7th symphony brought tears of joy to my eyes...i relished the beauty and precision of the sound produced by Alsop and the orchestra and left the Barbican sincerely grateful for a transcendent experience. And all for £8! Thank you so much.

Fri 19 Nov 2010 - Gergiev/Mustonen

Pam Wendzina We just loved the concert. The string section of the LSO is uniquely beautiful. Love Mahler. Love Gergiev. My husband had a stroke recently. This concert was such a blessing to him. Thank you.

Françoise and Jean-Pierre Holvoet We were really enchanted by the orchestra. Mahler was wonderful, we enjoyed the excellent performance! It was worth the trip from Belgium!

Selby Brock I enjoyed the concert; wasn’t familiar with either work, so reluctant to criticise. But I must say the artsdesk review could have come straight from Pseud’s Corner!

Sat 13 Nov 2010 - Philharmonie, Luxembourg

Thomas Last Saturday I had the unbelievable luck listening to the LSO at the Luxemburgish Philharmony. It was an experience that I will never forget in my life. When I think about Elgar`s variationes that you played the second half my heart starts to knock faster and my hands get sweaty. I wish I could listen to you every day (not just on CD). You guys made my life richer that day. I THANK YOU SO MUCH. The perfection in the way you play TOGETHER is incredible.

Wed 10 Nov 2010 - Davis/Znaider

David Foulger A quite wonderful performance of the Elgar Violin Concerto. Znaider was if anything a little freer with portamenti and rubato than on his recording. I loved the way he kept turning to members of the orchestra to integrate their phrasing with his. And the audience was obviously gripped, not a cough was heard during those rapt intimite passages.

Neville A wonderful concert; great to be there

Peter Ludbrook This was a terrific concert. I've been fairly critical of some of the other new pieces introduced under the UBS Soundscapes project but I was enthralled by Emily Howard's 'Solar' which gripped from its rivetting opening bars. The Elgar Violin Concerto was wonderful. I don't think I've ever heard a dud performance but this was special. Playing it on the violin Kreisler used at its premiere did give it an extra frisson. Nikolaj Znaider, Sir Colin and th LSO deserve the highest praise for a great performance of a great work.

Sun 7 Nov 2010 - Harding/Lang Lang/Zimmermann/Synergy Vocals

Frances Reynolds Sunday's concert was a joy and a wonderful suprise. I also greatly appreciate the receiving your newletter and whenever extra issues to attend, lectures, etc whenever possible.

Kathy Lerman Just to let you know that we thought the free talk yesterday was excellent. Rachel Leach was very lively and engaging and my daughter was glad we went. Indeed I think we all benefitted from learning more about the music and what to listen out for, so we all enjoyed the concert more.

Revd. Ron and Mrs. Janet Ingamells Once again a wonderful and exciting evening of music! There were some sad comments from people near us about the Berio Sinfonia, but we appreciated the skill of orchestra and voices in their presentation of such a highly complex piece!

Thu 4 Nov 2010 - Donatella Flick Conducting Competition

Jocelyn Sampson The Donatella Flick competion was great fun, as ever, with the audience as entertaining as the performers.

Personally I loved the woman conductor, but was obviously in a minority. It was very good to see Rachel Gough in an official capacity.

The LSO and the Barbican make me feel good - thank you.

Larry Gold What a wonderful evening and seeing young conductors performing. It is very encouraging to see young people showing their talent, in my opinion the correct winner was chosen although all participants were excellent.

Tue 26 Oct 2010 - Noseda/Ehnes

Peter LudbrookThe Prokofiev 6th was a triumph and I don't agree with the Guardian critic's description of the performance as 'smooth'. I thought it had real edge and rawness to it which I think is quite appropriate. As for the finale, taken at a terrific lick I thought, it built to an absolutely devastating coda. The only performance I've ever heard that was even more cathartic was given by the LSO with Rostropovich so Noseda is in very select company. Terrific playing by all sections of the orchestra as well.

Sun 24 Oct 2010 - Eric Whitacre/LSC

Gill Marris What a thrill it was to see Eric Whitacre conducting his own work, to hear and see a World Premiere and to be introduced to each piece by the maestro himself! This brought a winsome and personal touch to every piece, with dashes of humour, self-deprecating stories and courageous reference to his frail father. The sound in the Hall was unforgettable. Eric’s obvious enjoyment was infectious and we were treated to a wonderful programme of varied but absolutely excellent music. He squeezed even more excitement out of the audience by moving Lux Aurumque to the end of the evening; but what a fitting and magical ending it was! We talked about it all the way home. Thank you for an amazing evening which I will never forget.

Sun 24 Oct 2010 - LSO Discovery Family Concert: Sounds Unexpected

Nevin Penny We've been coming to the concerts in the last few years.It's a great success for us because my son has autism. He is 17 now, he enjoys and tolerates the audience, this is a big achievement for him. He plays piano at home, exposing him to the environment where orchestra, musicians and audience are there, it is a kind of rich social gain for him with additional experiment with the different instrument before the concert is great.

Shay Knowles What I (Mum) love about the concerts is hearing the classics I loved as a child – e.g. Peer Gynt, The Planets, Ode to Joy – and seeing my 10 year old enjoy them. We love seeing how the orchestra produces the sound, and finding out about the instruments. My son is sometimes able to play pieces afterwards on the piano (in his classical tunes book). He also loves hearing theme tunes (Dr Who, Harry Potter, Simpsons). With pieces like this you don’t need much explanation or other activities – though we have enjoyed the visual display with the theme tunes. We also like being introduced to some unusual pieces like the one with the vacuum cleaners. At the last concert, we liked the pairs of instruments coming to the front for their duets, and seeing the bagpipes. We joined in with the singing and gestures, but we don’t particularly need to do this. We were sorry not to hear more of ET. We also went to the recent concert of the Planets, with the accompanying video – this was brilliant.

Simon Alexander Really Great! Most enjoyable.

David Bishop My wife and I took our two boys who are 8 and 6 years old, along to the “Sounds Unexpected” concert...My wife thought it was great and I found it very interesting too, I think we would definitely go again. I was frankly amazed it wasn’t sold out as the tickets were a bargain I thought (we don’t live in London either and I think anyone who does is definitely missing a trick if they have any interest in music whatsoever). Anyway, it was good fun and a pleasure to see talented people play so well, so I guess we’ll be along in February.

Ofra This has been our third time to the Discovery Family concert, we have been to the 2 previous concerts with Paul Rissman which we thought were fantastic – the narration was excellent, and so was the choice of music – both the adults and our 8 year old enjoyed it tremendously.

Sun 10 & Tue 12 Oct 2010 - Davis/Mutter/LSC

Kieron Forde It was wonderful - one of the best concerts I've been to this year (and this year I've been to quite a few). In fact it was so wonderful that I've bought a recording of the LSO playing the Glagolithic Mass. But I'm putting off playing it because I don't want to overwrite the memory of Tuesday night's performance!

Dr Gerhard Behrens Wholeheartedly agree, a truly superb and unforgettable performance of Dvorak's violin concert and Janacek's Glagolitic mass. The "Trickster" prelude, while certainly having its merits as an encouragement for young composers, seemed to be more an effort to convey humour in music, something that here again proved to be difficult to achieve without overdoing the "humour".

Tim Moorey The evening was a satisfying whole with a fun, new piece by a young composer which exploited the large forces available to her and was a good overture (we could do with more standard overtures, by the way - how about some Berlioz from Sir Colin?). Wonderful, faultless playing which made the Dvorak a better piece than it probably is. Finally the Janacek Mass with choir, orchestra and Sir Colin all in earth-shattering form to send us home uplifted.

Jennifer Vernor-Miles

Anne-Sophie Mutter was amazing (and a lovely dress too). I thought if she played any closer to Colin Davis’ nose he was going to find it difficult to turn the pages of his score. A great violinist with huge tonal contrasts, from aggressive to lyrical. The Janacek was its usual exuberant self; good to know Dvorak wrote something other than operas which start miserable and end in tragedy.

Sun 10 Oct 2010 - Janácek Discovery Day

Tim Moorey Congratulations on another very interesting and stimulating day.

Tue 5 Oct 2010 - Davis/Chang

Larry Gold Yes i agree with all the positive comments. I have always been a big fan of sir colin davis wether it is opera or orchestral music and i have never been disappointed in one of his performances.

Professor Malpas In the whole of my life I have never heard a more wonderful performance of Elgars' second symphony . I shall never forget it.

Sun 26 Sep 2010 - Gergiev/Gough/Marriner

Allison Allen A totally wonderful concert on Sunday; the playful Schchedrin, the exquisite Strauss and the mighty, fabulous Mahler... yes, I liked it ! Thank you to all LSO players and Maestro Gergiev for yet another unforgettable evening.

David Parry We enjoyed the concert very much and it was great to see the Barbican buzzing on a Sunday night

Sat 25 Sep 2010 - Gergiev/Matsuev

Maria Serrano Definitely one of the most enjoyable performances I have heard this year. Was taken aback by Shchedrin's Carmen suite. Thank you for giving me the opportunity of discovering this amazing artist. Gergiev and the LSO, as always.....no words. Also extremely pleased to have attended Shchredin's talk on Sunday. A very satisfied member of the audience!